Cloverfield (2008)

Cloverfield follows five New Yorkers from the perspective of a hand-held video camera. The movie is exactly the length of a DV Tape and a sub-plot is established by showing bits and pieces of video previously recorded on the tape that is being recorded over. A group of friends throw a farewell party for Rob, who is leaving New York to go and work in Japan. However, as the party progresses, violent shakes and explosions herald the arrival of an unknown creature, which begins its rampage by throwing the head of the Statue of Liberty down into a street. As they go to investigate, an adventure deep into the streets of New York begins, as the friends are determined to rescue Rob's true love.

Cloverfield (2008) Review

Cloverfield (2008) is a 1h 25-minute American found-footage monster-horror film shot with a home camcorder and is the first film in the Cloverfield franchise. The movie had an estimated budget of $25 million and grossed over $170.8 at the box office. Director Matt Reeves (Let Me In (2010), The Yards (2000), Under Siege 2: Dark Territory (1995), Felicity (1998-2002)) surpass my expectations for this film and did it well. I thought Cloverfield was just going to be another unfortunate found-footage film with nothing exciting, but I was wrong and happy that I gave this film a chance.

Cloverfield revolves around a group of young New York City adults who were enjoying themselves at a farewell party until the unexpected happened, disasters strike. First, it was an earthquake that shook them and led to a power outage, but that was not so terrible as the gigantic monster attacking the city/them. The group rushes into the city giving us POV style action/footage displaying visual clues in the background that tell us what is going on. We see the Statue of Liberty’s head in the street, Woolworth Building collapsing, the city being evacuated, the Brooklyn Bridge being destroyed by the creature’s tail, and many other devastating events. The creature was a handful enough but the little creatures popping off its body attacking people added to the chaos which makes a great entertaining film.

The pace was at an intense level but informative with action scenes only steps away. The found footage in this movie gave it a realistic feel as we the viewer can feel and sense of terror that the cast is encountering/feeling. I, however, did not like the shaky cam action as it gave me a headache after a while but I see how it was needed for the action scenes. Cloverfield was a good monster movie that gave me chills and did what it was supposed to do.

The Godzilla-like creature meeting the hybrid crab was one of the things that kept the viewers/audience in suspense after an oil tank capsize, and the monster rises from the sea. The creature was a huge scare, but it was not the only scares as smaller parasitic creatures that somehow comes from the creature’s body running around attacking people. The creatures destroyed a huge portion of New York while attacking people and battling the army.

Cloverfield had a higher budget and delivered more than other found footage movies, but that is not what made it into becoming a success. It was that it had enough to stand alone with its unique style in the horror genre and it has exceeded what other horror found footage films have not. It also had city large green-screening and fantastic CGI, practical effects. I gave this film a six because it is not original, had several good and mishap scenes but it was an excellent watch with all said.